Our "Entry"

As much as I love our open floor plan, sometimes I have entry envy.  Sometimes I really wish we had a distinct entry or mudroom.  I blame Pinterest.  :)  Regardless of who (or what) I peg as my scapegoat, I seriously have drooled over entries for a while, and shed a few hypothetical tears over the traditional entry we do not have.  I did not give up on my dream, however, and that dream recently came to fruition.  This is our new "entry". 

I LOVE it!  The pillar is so classic and yet so fun, and  I love how it looks with the architectural salvage piece.  I am obsessed with the gray urn as well.  I think it looks amazing.  (I have a thing for urns.)  I love that the pussy willows echo the gray color of the urn in such a simplistically beautiful way!  The canvas is from TJ Maxx, and it displays one of our wedding programs, so it is SO special to me.  It's one of my favorite pieces in our entire house.  And...I think the fleur de lis mirror just rounds out the space.  I LOVE it.  LOVE... all caps. This tiny little project pales in comparison to some of the other projects we have worked on over the last few years, but it reminded me that, as cliche as it is, when life hands you lemons, you have to make lemonade, or stop crying about it.  :)

When we first moved in, our house was nice... but very vanilla.  Over the past four years, I have been really strategic and methodical about the pieces I have brought into our house and the changes that have been made.   We changed flooring, paint colors, fixtures, and slowly but surely, our house is starting to feel like a cozy little farmhouse... minus the farm...and if you ask me... that's about as close to perfect as it gets.

Guest Bath Color Splash

Although I tend to gravitate toward metallic goodies and all things neutral, I have recently started to play with color.  It all started when we finished our basement, and I needed to pick out paint.  I decided to go with a taupe for our entertainment room, a pretty green for our bonus room, and a sunny yellow for our bathroom!   Since our basement is a less serious space, I wanted a fun color, and I wanted to play with a fun contrast as well.   I decided to keep the shower curtain and rug pretty monochromatic, but the shower curtain is ombre, so I love how the lighter shades brush up against the yellow walls, and as it gets darker, it flows against the white wainscoting.  There are pops of teal throughout the room, and I love it. LOVE... in all caps.  That's how much!   Those colors show up throughout the basement for a little color splash and continuity too.  

This weekend, I added this precious chippy stool.  I love how it adds visual interest to the space without competing, and I love how it looks with a vintage silver tray, a teal wire basket, and a white wire planter with pretty white blooms.  Be still my heart!  It's a match made in vintage Heaven!

This the centerpiece though.  It's my favorite piece of furniture...hands-down!  I love the colors and the texture of the doors!  This is what anchors the rest of the teal touches and grounds it.  I love how it even pulls in the dark stain from our floors.  I mean, really.  I don't think I will ever part with this piece.  Like, ever.  :)  One day, I plan on doing a full bathroom reveal, but for today, this is progress, and I am a very happy camper.  I keep reminding myself that beautiful rooms take time.  :) 

Dining Room Vignette

Well,  I have been a woman on a mission.  I have been shopping our house, moving everything from room to room, from place to place, and I've been spending a lot of time thrifting.  I suppose you could say I have been on a major decorating binge. Nevertheless, I love when rooms start to really take shape and feel the way I want them to feel.  Don't you? I want our house to feel classy, youthful, and a little whimsical, and I feel like I am finally getting to a happy place.  How cute is this little space?!  I've been messing with it non-stop for about a month, and I am in LOVE with how it looks right now with the shuttered mirror, the cute little bird planters and ferns, my pretty blue bowls, the little Victorian-esque bust, and my candlesticks.  I just purchased the toolbox (and the birds) from my sweet friend Susan from Must Love Junk.  Her shop is my weakness.  (Of course, I am sure you can see why.  She finds the BEST stuff!)   I love the French stenciling... and I love the translation too.  "Bookkeeper".  It could not be a better fit for me.  I definitely identify with a bookkeeper because I have quite the extensive home and school libraries... so that little connection makes me LOVE it even more.  Plus, this little vignette gives our Craigs List dining set from the 1970's a little more character and spunk.  You can see it peeking through in the mirror!  LOVE! LOVE!  LOVE!  I can't wait to see how the room continues to transform as I refine and tweak the design over time.  It's hard to imagine that it will be any better than this, but somehow I know that it will.  :) 

If an Apothecary Jar Married a Botanical Print...

I decided to browse eBay one evening a few weeks ago on a whim.  I rarely shop on eBay, but when I do, I lurk.  I only bid on inexpensive items that have one bid or no bids.  I wait until they are almost ready to close before I go in for the kill.  It's just what I do.  Anyway, I decided to browse botanical prints because I am still in the process of decorating our office walls.  Well, as I was scrolling along, I stumbled upon these precious little gems for next to nothing.  Seriously, if an apothecary jar married a botanical print, this is what their offspring would look like.  Just beautiful!  They are old antique apothecary jars... and they are just a little flawed.  I kind of love the imperfections though...the gaps between the lids and the bottles.  I think it adds just a little more character!  I love the botanicals, the gold details, the shape, and the tiny little compact size of the jars.  Be. Still.  My.  Heart. 

 

Because Why Not?

I bought this cute frame a few weeks ago, and I loved everything about it.  In fact, I snapped it up before there was even a price tag on it.  {I have cat-like reflexes when it comes to thrifting!}  Anyway, I loved the texture of the jute up against the pretty music notes.  The skeleton key was taped to the frame with Scotch tape, and I thought, "Hmmm...I kind of like that eclectic display.  Would it be tacky if I kept it like that?"  That same day, I made a run to Target for a storage tub.  Lo and behold, I found pretty silver tape in the Dollar Spot!  It was serendipity!  It was meant to be, and so I removed the clear tape and replaced it with this metallic strip.  Is it unconventional?  Yes!  Do I love it anyway?!  You betcha!  I have it displayed on my desk, and I am enjoying looking at it as I type this very post.  Sometimes I think it's important to try something  new and break a few design "rules".  Rules were meant to be broken anyway {says the ultimate rule follower}.  

 

Shabby Chic on the Cheap!

I just picked up a thirfted Shabby Chic chair yesterday, and I tucked it into a corner of our dinette.  I was completely enamored by the worn white paint,  the almost architectural styling, the neutral palette, the french burlap cushion, and the pretty taupe wicker too. I was a little worried about how it would fit with everything else... but I think it works there after all!  While I was shopping, I also found this vintage scoop and faux apples.  I thought it would make an adorable and simple display, and it did not disappoint once I transplanted everything!

Here's the scoop!  I love the patina and the contrast between the chair, the scoop, and apples!  I even love the chair's imperfections...like the slight bleeding of the white paint onto the wicker!  I think it just adds character and makes the chair look well-loved.

This is how the chair looks in the dinette.  After adding the chair, I felt that I needed to pull the blinds because it did look a little cluttered with our indoor furniture and outdoor furniture in plain sight.  This seemed to simplify things a bit... and I am kind of digging how it turned out.

 I also snagged this white tureen and the faux herbs yesterday.  If you ask me, it's a match made in Heaven!  :)  I love how this looks on our kitchen table.  I just added a little antique biscuit press for good measure.  Simple, classic, and beautiful.

Lavender LOVE!

I have been revamping our kitchen decor pretty much non-stop for three years, and it is slowly starting to fall into place.  I bought an old vintage cutting board a while ago, and I had it propped up against the backsplash with some pretty pieces in front.  It was so simple... and I liked it.  I just felt like I wanted something more.  During one of my Target trips, I found this cute corkboard in the shape of a cutting board, and I knew right away that it had to come live at my home.  I also bought the thumbtacks to embellish it, and I decided to create a cross as a subtle reminder of our faith.  I love the way it looks with the mixed metal finishes!  Ultimately, I went shopping in my own house, and I decided to move my milk jug measuring cups next to this measuring vase.  I think the lavender gives it a shabby chic feel... and it makes me want to spend more time in my kitchen.  Some updates are simple... but they can make a huge impact on a space!

 

I am trying to decide whether I like the lavender all by itself or if I like it with this beautiful hammered spoon.  Right now, the spoon is on display.  We'll see how long it stays like that.  I can be a very fickle creature when it comes to decorating, but usually that allows me to move things all over my house and do a lot of "redecorating" with things we already have.  That's half of the fun, right?